Kids These Days – The reFRESH

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This week we’re throwing our full support behind the students of Stoneman Douglas high school, calling for educational reform at every level, and looking to the future.

What we’re checking out…

It’s only been fifteen days since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, but the student survivors have already accomplished more towards gun control than we’ve seen in the last several years. From fiercely standing up to opponents Sen. Marco Rubio and NRA Spokeswoman Dana Loesch at the CNN Town Hall to helping coordinate walkouts and even a die-in at the White House, these students – along with other youth activists from Teens for Gun Reform and Women’s March Youth EMPOWER – are making their voices heard.

As a public speaking organization, we’ve been particularly struck by the Stoneman Douglas High School students’ abilities to present and articulate their arguments so cogently. As Dahlia Lithwick points out, these skills are the result of an exceptionally good public school – one that hasn’t cut funding for the arts, civics, debate, and journalism. Yet even as we applaud these theater and journalism students, we’re reminded that most public schools in the United States aren’t as affluent. What type of media-ready youth activists would there be across the nation if every school had the luxury of prioritizing these skills?

Josh Barro presents an interesting argument for this dichotomy, indicating that companies enact progressive policies because consumers have become more left-leaning than voters. Voting with your dollar is one thing, but let’s hope more progressives actually turn out at the polls in the elections this fall.

Alicia Garza, one of the Co-Creators of Black Lives Matter, is also thinking towards the future with her newly launched Black Futures Lab. In conjunction with their flagship Black Census Project, they’re working within communities and with policy-makers to secure a future that is representative of black people and effective towards their needs.

Sally Kohn took to the Washington Post to remind people of the great history of youth activism in the United States and around the world. She also emphasizes the disparity in praise and attention being shown to the Stoneman Douglas High School students versus that shown towards DREAMers, Black Lives Matter activists, and other youth activists of color.

As some young people rise up as activists, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is hoping Letitia Wright’s portrayal of science genius Shuri in Black Panther will propel a wave of young black girls to enter STEM in what Johnson is calling The Shuri Effect.

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